A Lesson Well Learned
by CoatCheck
Summary: Little Ginny has some growing up to do.


**Title: A Lesson Well Learned**

**Author: CoatCheck**

**Inspiration: Uhhh, I dunno.**

**Summary: Little Ginny has some growing up to do.**

**Rating: K+. Mild warning for language and a little mature content.**

**Author Note: I wrote this on a rainy day, drinking some steaming tea. This is what came out of it.**

* * *

><p><strong>A Lesson Well Learned<strong>

* * *

><p>Something should have told her. She should have noticed the signs- the way his head would perk up at the sight of ghostly pale and wispy fine blonde hair, or perhaps the way his hand drew back in hesitation minutely before he put that ring on her finger, maybe even the look of intense pity behind Hermione's eyes when she smiled at them together. Perhaps Harry's obliviousness rubbed off on her when she wasn't looking.<p>

She thought we were happy enough, occupied by Ministry functions and a fairytale wedding on the horizon... but maybe her eyes turned everything golden. Just like the Golden Boy. He was all dreamy green eyes with round spectacles that never quite fit, untamable raven locks, and cute smiles that she couldn't help but fall for him. She thinks now that she didn't know much more than that.

It was expected of them to be together. Her mum's eyes, how they sparkled when she told her that Harry asked her to marry him, and showed her the ring with the simple cut and no adornments. They shined with delight and expectation. _Always expectation_. The rest of the wizarding world liked the idea too- they took to calling her the Golden Girl.

She should have noticed however, how tense Harry was when she touched him, how he never really looked at her during sex, and worked long hours at his job like never before as an auror. His job with Malfoy.

She'd call him a villian, but she reckons he's as much of a victim as her. Of course he couldn't resist Harry, being the light in the dark he is. Not much comparison out there. And she learned a while ago that in the beginning he did try to stay at a distance, resist. Merlin give it to the man for standing up to it for so long.

In the beginning, it was worse than at Hogwarts. Harry would slam the door behind him, and go to brood in the bedroom of their cozy little flat they shared. But when Ginny came in to comfort him, his eyes said something she now understood, even if he still doesn't know what they conveyed. You do not belong.

He would rant and rave about Malfoy, using adjectives that she would never want to repeat. It was like he was the problem for everything. One day, he would floo that Potter needed to come in early, for this or that. Harry would complain that Malfoy was taking up all of his time with work. He'd complain when he was home that Malfoy never let him work.

She'd thought that it was simply unresolved tension. And she was right- just not in the capacity she had considered at the time. It was one day, when they were sitting side by side writing out wedding invitations, that she noticed something. Something so completely odd and baffling that she couldn't manage to wrap her mind around it. And Gods she wanted to ask.. when had Harry started calling Malfoy.. Draco?

So she did. All she recieved was a flustered mumble, and life in his eyes that she thought could contain no more, being the color of the forest. She had smiled and believed him, holding back the thoughts that said she had never seen passion like that in his eyes when he looked upon her.

When she came to Hermione and asked to see her baby, she didn't look very surprised. Ginny held the little boy named Hugo, and gazed at his cherubic face and flattened his vibrant red locks that were already so long and thick. He smelled of baby powder, and his skin was akin to the feel of a cloud.

She wanted a child of her own. A child to love and smile with as they smile, and comfort when they cry. To scold when they take a cookie from the jar, to worry and fret about right after they get on the Hogwarts Express.

Her imaginings were the beginning of an obsession. She ignored the sadness that turned to irritation that turned into something close to hate in Harry's eyes in favor of dreams of children and happiness. She was using a pregnancy detection spell, and was always nattering about Hermione's bundle of joy and his progress. The world was pillows and fluff in her mind. So when she caught Harry snogging Malfoy when she walked into their conjoined office, you could say she was a bit shocked.

And not just a little angry. She wrenched them apart physically and started guarding Harry like a dog, forcing him to focus on her- so that she may also have him mentally. That was not to be, however.

Harry fought back tooth and nail, and before she knew it, he had a suitcase packed and with none too remorseful eyes he apparated away. Probably to the Malfoy Manor. Ginny stayed up for three days barely eating a bite and left her tea cold, awaiting his return that never came. On the fourth day, she saw it wise to take off the engagement ring. On the fifth day, she owled Hermione and told her. On the sixth day, she broke and cried.

She missed him dearly, but learned to deal with the pangs in her chest whenever she saw him on a tabloid cover arm-in-arm with HIM. Ron started blasting Harry and Malfoy at every meal, when she was forced back to the Burrow by her insistent and protective brothers. Harry came one day and talked to everyone, addressing them all. Even Ginny. He said that they were his family, and he loved them, but he knew who he was meant to be with. Apparently Ron was harrassing him at work.

She didn't say a word when Harry asked for any questions they had. But there were a million soaring through her head, and tanking in her heart. She stood there, not caring that she was staring at Harry with eyes the size of the moon. She untucked the hair behind her ear, to hide her face from Harry's seeking eyes as she walked away. Light danced in his eyes, even when he looked upon her with sadness. But no regret.

Ginny decided she didn't want to play quidditch anymore. It reminded her of Harry too much. She took to staying in the Burrow most days, only meandering out for small gatherings with her worried family and to buy gifts when it came to birthdays.

One day, doing that, she met Blaise Zabini. She had stopped in the quidditch shop for Ron, and was eyeing the newest broom model called the Weathered 1000. Apparently, it had automatic wards for stormy days, so that the rider could go unbothered. When she stepped up to the counter with the broom, she saw a face she thought she'd never see again after Hogwarts. When that face smirked she realized she had been staring uneloquently.

He made a quip about her likeness to the broom, being that she herself looked weathered. She gave a retort and told him her address to mail the broom to. When she left the shop huffing, she didn't realize that in the first time in a long time, she felt alive.

A week later, an owl was at her window, pecking insistently at the glass. She frowned, puzzled, and took the letter from it's beak and gave it a treat. After the owl flew away, she sat down at her quaint desk and broke the wax seal. She read what the letter had to say.

_Dear Ms. Weasley,_

_I realize that I am likely the person you would least expect a letter from. For sending this, I do not know the reason. That was a lie. I have been finding myself thinking about you more often than I would like. Not that you're not pleasant to think about.. you see, I find myself tongue-tied when it concerns you and this letter I am penning while perching on the end of my seat. If you're not still enamoured with Potter, i'd like to ask you out for dinner. Nothing special, if that's not what you would like._

_Eagerly waiting your reply for obvious reasons,_

_Blaise Zabini_

Ginny smiled and thought that maybe it was time for change. She dipped her quill in ink and scrawled, "_Yes_."

He understood her better than Ron or even Hermione with her quiet perceptive glances. When he caught her perusing a book shop with eyes lit up at a particuliar title, he would buy it for her, even if she insisted she had enough books. When she bit her lip at a family dinner that Harry chose to attend with Malfoy, he'd nod at Malfoy and he'd guide her away.

They fought a lot. The disagreements between them were made of the same dark thickness that their attraction carried. In each other's arms, nothing else in the world mattered.

She started speaking to Harry two years into her relationship with Blaise. He nearly had a mother hen quality when it came to her, but he would never admit it. He had left her at the refreshments table to stand awkwardly next to Harry, while he went to start conversation with Malfoy.

"Erm.." Harry began nervously, plucking at his silk green tie that Ginny was sure Malfoy picked out, "Good punch, yeah?"

Ginny nodded and continued assessing Harry with her eyes. He looked healthy, and was starting to get smile lines.

"So.." The raven scratched the back of his head, and sighed. "I'm sorry, Ginny."

Ginny's eyes widened, and she replied quietly, "I'm sorry, too."

Harry continued then, with more confidence, "You see, with Malfoy.. he just drew me in. You get that, right?"

Ginny smiled and sipped her punch, "Yes." It had happened to her and Blaise.

"You're more mature, you know."

"And who's fault is that?" She smirked at his reddened cheeks, glad that the attraction was gone. Was there ever any attraction in the first place? She wondered.

Before he could stutter a reply, Blaise stepped in. "I'll take credit." he winked at Harry.

Ginny kissed his cheek then, just because she felt like it. He smiled down at her, and their lips met before either of them knew it.

"Ah." Malfoy stepped up next to Harry, his arm curling around the man's waist. "I was a bit worried, but now I know that there was never a reason for worrying."

"No." Ginny replied, "Everything's wonderful." She said as she gazed into her lover's eyes, as his hand layed itself on her stomach that bulged with their first child.

And it was.


End file.
